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Gunpowder plot: the art of creating a big bang

The science: Hannah Devlin

November 5 2011, 12:01am, The Times

A high-pitched squeal, an ear-splitting bang and a blaze of heat and light ... the basic ingredients of the firework — paper, gunpowder and a fuse — have not changed since they were invented by the Chinese 2,000 years ago.

The classic firework is basically a two-stage rocket.

The bottom section of the aerial shell is an open-ended tube containing gunpowder, which blasts the firework into the air as it burns. As the fuel burns down inside the tube, the carbon dioxide it gives off rushes out the open end, producing the whistling sound.

The second stage is a package of gunpowder enriched with oxidiser, which produces an explosion, blasting open the paper shell and tipping the burning gunpowder into the night sky.